Ad Campaign Aims At Nearby Tourists

February 4, 1991|By BOB LaMENDOLA, Staff Writer

Broward County tourism officials will bet big bucks on an old adage: When business starts to fall, advertise.

With recession and war spoiling vacation plans of tourists from cold-weather territories, the county will launch a $200,000 ad blitz in the Southeast and Florida to attract visitors from those areas, officials said last week.

The Greater Fort Lauderdale Convention & Visitors Bureau almost never has to advertise during the busy winter tourist season, saving its money for slow summer and fall months.

``When the fish don`t want to go far from the boat, you have to pull the net in close,`` said County Commissioner Nicki Grossman, who heads the Tourist Development Council.

The campaign beginning on March 1 will not detract from normal off-season advertising, set at $800,000. That appeal will be aimed at Broward`s richest vein for tourists: the Northeast, Canada and the Midwest.

The southern blitz will focus on tourists who would drive to Broward from Florida, Georgia, Alabama and perhaps the Carolinas.

The money comes from unspent reserves in the 1990 budget that ended on Sept. 30, Weaver said.

Broward has held off on more ads because tourism has not suffered as much as in other places, officials said. New figures this week show hotel vacancies in December and the final quarter of last year were up by 3 percent compared to 1989.

Luring more Floridians and Southerners may not be easy. Many other tourist centers, including Walt Disney World, have already started going after them.